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Soccer tennis comes to KC ahead of World Cup; here’s how a weekend street festival is kicking it across the map
Ryogoku Soccer Academy — with the help of local businesses like MADE MOBB, Café Ollama, and Café Cà Phê — is taking soccer from the pitch to the streets of Kansas City’s historic Northeast, Brad Leonard shared.
Students from Ryogoku Soccer Academy in Kansas City play soccer tennis in an alley near MADE MOBB in the Crossroads; courtesy photo
As the metro gears up for hosting World Cup games in 2026, the neighborhood-based international school and soccer academy (representing 22 countries) is hosting its Copa de Calle — a street soccer tournament and festival — Saturday and Sunday in the River Market and the Crossroads.
Click here to learn more about the March 29-30 festivities.
“Kansas City is the self-proclaimed soccer capital of America,” explained Leonard, head of Ryogoku. “We are also home to a very large number of cultures and backgrounds, and our group feels like there’s such a vibrant, growing downtown scene — between the Crossroads, between the River Market, with the streetcar. So we wanted to try to bring all those things together.”
“To be able to drive through the city and be able to see pickup games in random parking lots will get the city hyped in the lead up to the World Cup,” added Vu Nguyen, co-owner and creative director of the Kansas City streetwear brand MADE MOBB and a Ryogoku mentor. “It shows the accessibility of the game as well as the diversity it brings. It’s a universal language.”
Cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago have downtown soccer festivals, Leonard noted, why not Kansas City?
“We wanted to just make a fun event where people can take the streetcar, jump from court to court, place to place, support local businesses, and learn more about the different cultures that are here in KC,” he continued.
Francisco Murguia, Café Ollama; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
“It’s such a fun social sport that brings a lot of joy together,” added Francisco Murguia, co-owner of Café Ollama and technical director for Ryogoku. “We want to be able to share that for more people to have fun.”
Sponsors for the festival include MADE MOBB, Café Ollama, Café Cà Phê, Cowtown Revival, City Market, KCMO Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, NorthPoint Foundation, and Senda Athletics.
“I think soccer brings so many people together around the sport,” Leonard said. “So having people just come to the table, present ideas, and want to get involved, it’s so organic and natural and it just makes it more fun.”
The soccer tennis tournament is open to adult (16 and older) and youth (15 and younger) teams, each consisting of two players. Matches will be played at City Market in the morning and MADE MOBB in the afternoon with each court highlighting different cultures.
Students from Ryogoku Soccer Academy huddle while wearing limited-edition jerseys from MADE MOBB in the Crossroads; courtesy photo
Grand prizes will be awarded, with the top adult team taking home $400 and the top youth team taking home $200 and jerseys. Each participant will receive a swag bag that includes a MADE MOBB tournament T-shirt and Senda Athletics grip socks.
Click here to register for Copa de Calle.
“Each court will definitely have a street feel,” Leonard explained. “So there will be vendors, there will be food (trucks). We’re gonna have DJs. FK Menace is leading a DJ team to be at the courts, and there will be commentators to just help keep the energy high and make sure everybody’s having fun.”
Soccer tennis — for those not familiar — is similar to pickleball without the paddles, Leonard noted. There’s no running and physical contact like a normal soccer game. Each team has three touches to send it back over the net.
Ryogoku students, who often play soccer tennis on recovery days after a game, have been playing popup games across the city — at places like the National WWI Museum and Memorial and the Westside — to help people become more familiar with the game and increase awareness for the Copa de Calle.
“We wanted to make this first round be soccer tennis, so that it’s more accessible for everybody,” he added. “Kids can play it; adults can play it. It’s for everybody.”
Vu Nguyen, MADE MOBB, Emilio Soto, Abdullahi Islow, and Brad Leonard, Ryogoku Soccer Academy, in 2023; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Nguyen and MADE MOBB collaborated with a couple of Ryogoku students on a passion project in 2023 and he said happy to collaborate again with them on this event.
“The Kansas City youth are our future,” he explained. “We love seeing the next generation getting a head start on being pillars of the community. MADE MOBB is a hub for creatives and community, so it only makes sense that we help out however we can.”
Ryogoku plans to host another round of Copa de Calle in the fall, Leonard noted, possibly switching to a 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 format and adding more courts along the expanded street car route.
“Just making it like a well thought out plan where people are moving together, people are learning together about the different neighborhoods, different cultures in Kansas City, but also getting to know each other,” he explained.
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